The only grade school teacher that gave me detention got busted a few years later for dealing drugs at the school. She said she'd name names of all the teachers she sold drugs to and the male and female teachers she'd slept with.

For whatever reason, no school I've ever attended has had a stereotypical school nurse. The ONLY treatment the school would give was to call an ambulance (and your parents of course) or call your parents. So if you were laying on the ground bleeding out they'd literally just call an ambulance and let you die by not giving you first aid. This was in the late 90s. When you needed meds, you'd go to the office, they'd give you your meds, and you'd be free. The War on Drugs finally convinced them they needed a school nurse because students were 'getting their meds' which would end up being a handful of pain killers and distributing them to their friends. And rumor has it someone that worked there was raiding pain meds and blaming it on the students.

Man On Fire:Huh, school nursing seems to me to be on the easier end of RN jobs.

You would be mostly wrong. Instead of having to deal with the more serious injuries, you have to deal with jammed fingers, lumps on the head, bellyaches (literal and figurative), food alergies, anorexia, bulimia, kids eating dryer sheets, kids making shiat up because they want to get out of class, helicopter parents, parents that could give a shiat and a list of things that would make a sailor blush. Kids are wierd. Add to the fact that you have to chart everything and then do all the medicaid billing on top of that, and it can be a major pain in the arse.

Of course the actual medical care needed is very rarely on the same level, however, the challenges lie elsewhere in this profession.

Man On Fire:Huh, school nursing seems to me to be on the easier end of RN jobs. You don't have to deal with major trauma patients, crazies other than adhd kids, and no super depressing shiat like a cancer ward.

Just some vomit from kids with the flue, and the occasional scraped knee and nosebleed.

MBZ321:When I was in "grade" school...the only thing the school nurse would do was give you a Tums. Stomach hurts? Have some Tums. Headache? Have some Tums. Bleeding out all your orifices? Have a Tums!

/I think you had to have a note to even be given Tylenol. Otherwise, the 'nurses' were just dispensaries for ADD medication.

Broke your leg? Put some Robitussin on it! Let that 'tussin get down to the bone...

HeadLever:MBZ321: /I think you had to have a note to even be given Tylenol. Otherwise, the 'nurses' were just dispensaries for ADD medication.

I belive here you can give acetaminophen and ibuprofen without a note, but that is about the limit unless it is an emergency.

They have standing orders for it here (All the school nurses in the county are provided by the local children's hospital), but they have to have phone permission from the parents to give it. The school nurses locally basically function as highly qualified first aiders, and to do PEG/Mickey Button Feedings for the special kids as well as the kids getting continuous infusions.

School Nursing is typically a "retirement" position - it's low stress, low patient contact, and routine, meaning it's perfect for people who want to get away from ICU or ER nursing, and typically attracts people who have been doing it for a long time.

I wonder what drove this woman to drink, and I also think that anyone who does work in healthcare needs to take regular advantage of the EAP and Mental Health services they get for free to keep from becoming just that.

Medic Zero:Man On Fire: Huh, school nursing seems to me to be on the easier end of RN jobs. You don't have to deal with major trauma patients, crazies other than adhd kids, and no super depressing shiat like a cancer ward.

Just some vomit from kids with the flue, and the occasional scraped knee and nosebleed.

hardinparamedic:Medic Zero: Man On Fire: Huh, school nursing seems to me to be on the easier end of RN jobs. You don't have to deal with major trauma patients, crazies other than adhd kids, and no super depressing shiat like a cancer ward.

Just some vomit from kids with the flue, and the occasional scraped knee and nosebleed.

They probably get paid about as much as a teacher too.

Probably get paid more than us, you know.

Sure. There's a reason I'm going to school for nursing! (Plus being able to travel). Although, since I've parlayed my EMT into working as an assistant in a hospital and have over twenty years of experience that they compensate some of, and going on 6 years of raises with this institution and get a Seattle pay rate, I probably make more than some school nurses in the US.

HeadLever:Instead of having to deal with the more serious injuries, you have to deal with jammed fingers, lumps on the head, bellyaches (literal and figurative), food alergies, anorexia, bulimia, kids eating dryer sheets, kids making shiat up because they want to get out of class, helicopter parents, parents that could give a shiat and a list of things that would make a sailor blush. Kids are wierd. Add to the fact that you have to chart everything and then do all the medicaid billing on top of that, and it can be a major pain in the arse.

Medic Zero:Sure. There's a reason I'm going to school for nursing! (Plus being able to travel). Although, since I've parlayed my EMT into working as an assistant in a hospital and have over twenty years of experience that they compensate some of, and going on 6 years of raises with this institution and get a Seattle pay rate, I probably make more than some school nurses in the US.

I forgot you work in the mythical land of Unicorns, living wages and 25% CPR Save rates. :)

I start next spring back on my BSN. I took a semester off from the academic part of the nursing program to attend the actual Tennessee CCEMTP course and get my alphabit soup behind my name this summer. (Actually, a shameless rip of the UMBC Critical Care Course with a lot more grueling clinicals added in).

Compared with dealing with dead and dying children all day long and - on the adult side - the same Overdosing drug seeker two times a night and the diabetic who looks like Lieutenant Dan, some people find that a refreshing break from excitement.

hardinparamedic:Compared with dealing with dead and dying children all day long and - on the adult side - the same Overdosing drug seeker two times a night and the diabetic who looks like Lieutenant Dan, some people find that a refreshing break from excitement.

Yeah, you go from the high stress, high adrenaline, 'feet on the ground for 16 hours but you don't notice until you sit down' routine to the frustrated 'how the hell did this parent figure out how to have a kid anyway' train of thought. Pretty much you need a completely different type of skill set for each one.

"To show up at school and expect to do your job under the influence of alcohol is not acceptable in our district," explains Charlotte County Public Schools Community Liaison Mike Riley.

To show up at school and expect to do your job NOT under the influence of alcohol is impossible in nearly every district in America. Deal with an entire school full of snot nosed crotch fruit and their indulgent helicopter parents every day? I'd definitely be in the bag.

hardinparamedic:Medic Zero: Sure. There's a reason I'm going to school for nursing! (Plus being able to travel). Although, since I've parlayed my EMT into working as an assistant in a hospital and have over twenty years of experience that they compensate some of, and going on 6 years of raises with this institution and get a Seattle pay rate, I probably make more than some school nurses in the US.

I forgot you work in the mythical land of Unicorns, living wages and 25% CPR Save rates. :)

Mostly. I live 8 miles from the city center and can't afford a car, despite splitting rent on a run down apartment with my long term girlfriend. But, technically it's probably a living wage. Also, I think I overstated the raises, I'm pretty sure they forced us to forgo a raise for a couple of years there while they blamed the economy and used all the hospitals liquid assets to buy up a bunch of land. As it is, the yearly raises don't keep up with the cost of living increases, so my real dollars have probably decreased over the years here.

I start next spring back on my BSN. I took a semester off from the academic part of the nursing program to attend the actual Tennessee CCEMTP course and get my alphabit soup behind my name this summer. (Actually, a shameless rip of the UMBC Critical Care Course with a lot more grueling clinicals added in).

Good luck!

Good luck on nursing, man. I know you'll be an awesome one.

Thanks! That means a lot coming from someone as knowledgeable as you are! You're the one that is going to be an awesome nurse.

dragonchild: And people wonder why she was drunk.

Compared with dealing with dead and dying children all day long and - on the adult side - the same Overdosing drug seeker two times a night and the diabetic who looks like Lieutenant Dan, some people find that a refreshing break from excitement.